A Song of Rings and Men
by Zooboss
Summary: In the year 3017 of the Third Age in Middle-Earth, and the 297th year after Aegon's Landing a year before Frodo leaves the Shire and months before Jon Arryn discovers the true heritage of Joffery and his siblings , a small group of Dunedain, lost in a storm, arrive at Westeros. Can they help unite the continents against the Others and Sauron? Note: Bookverse for both stories
1. The King

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own the rights to the characters, locations, cultures described in either A Song of Ice and Fire, or those within any Tolkien's works; including but not limited to: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarrillion**

* * *

Robert sat upon the Iron Throne, seeing hordes of people with requests of their king. He had already done this for several hours today, and he was tired of it. He turned to his Hand, "Jon, I have to go rest for a while, you take over for now."

When he got to his room, he laid down and rubbed his head, he had sought to overthrow the Mad King to restore the realm and improve the livelihood of its people, but all he had accomplished after overthrowing the Targaryens was to put down the Greyjoy rebellion, and Ned had done most of that. Robert knew he wasn't fit to be a ruler, and that's why he depended so much on his Hand. Jon was a just person, and would rule while Robert enjoyed himself. Robert closed his eyes and rested a little.

There was a knock at the door, Lancel poked his head into the room, "My lord, Jon Arryn requests that you meet him in the throne room."

Robert groaned and stood up, he must have fallen asleep.

He walked to the throne room, wondering why Jon would need him.

When he arrived, he saw that Arryn was not alone. There was another man; dark, over six and a half feet tall, with shaggy dark hair, grey eyes, and a pale stern face. He wore a dark green hooded cloak, although he kept his hood down.

Jon introduced the man, "Your Grace, this is Thorongil, from Arda, a land across the sea, south of Dorne."

Robert was shocked, as far as he knew there was nothing but sea south of Dorne. "I wasn't aware that there were any lands past the sea south of Dorne."

Thorongil laughed, "Just as I was unaware that there was anything north of Arda."

Robert asked, "How then, did you end up within my realm?"

Thorongil became solemn, "I was traveling with a group of kin by sea, but we were beset by a storm. In truth, I had no idea in which direction we went until the storm cleared and we arrived at your land of Dorne. By studying the stars consulting with the maester, we concluded that we had traveled far north."

Jon interjected, "Why did you come here instead of heading back to your homeland?"

"At first just because we lacked food for the journey back, but then we realized that we could use allies for the war in our homeland."

"A war? Why do you assume that we would be willing to risk out men's lives for your people?"

Thorongil looked confused, "Because if our people fail, then nothing will stop the Enemy from invading your lands."

"If you yourself admitted to not knowing that our lands existed, how would your 'Enemy' know of us? Who, even, is your enemy?"

Thorongil sighed, "To answer your question I must tell you some of my people's history. Over three thousand years ago, Sauron, the Enemy, waged war upon all of Middle-Earth, or Arda as I have called it before. He conquered nearly all of it, but was stopped by the Men of Numenor, my ancestors. They took him prisoner, and over the long years of his imprisonment he managed to corrupt the King and convince him to wage war upon the Valar."

Robert interjected, "Who are the Valar?"

Thorongil replied, "The Valar are the most powerful servants of Eru Iluvatar, the one. Together with the Maia, they created the World That Is, Arda. Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, the Valar and the Maia, and he turned to evil, corrupting many Maia, including Sauron. To continue my story, the Men of Numenor were then divided into two factions, the largest being the King's Men, and the smaller being the Faithful who remained loyal to the Valar. The King's Men set sail to Valinor, home of the Valar, and home to many Elves and Maia. When they reached the Blessed Realm, they were imprisoned within stone, and Iluvatar cast down the island of Numenor, slaying all the remained upon it, including Sauron."

This time Jon interrupted, "I thought you were fighting Sauron today, and what are these Elves?"

Thorongil replied, "The Elves are the Firstborn, the race that came before Dwarves and Men. The Elves can live indefinitely, as long as they are not slain in battle, they are superior to Men, in that they are faster, stronger, and have better senses than most Men, the exception being the royal family of Numenor, who are descended also from Elves and Maia. Sauron cannot be truly defeated as he is a Maia, and will return to fight again, but now he is weak enough that if he is destroyed once more, he will not return to haunt Arda again. Continuing the story, The Faithful, under the leadership of Elendil, descended from the Kings of Numenor, had begun to settle colonies within Middle-Earth. The greatest of these kingdoms was Arnor, from which Elendil ruled as the High-King, Gondor was the other Kingdom, from there ruled his sons. When Sauron rose once more, Elves and Men formed the Last Alliance, which, after five years defeated his forces, but took another eleven years for the siege of Barad-Dur, the Enemy's fortress, to overthrow Sauron. After this war, the Elves fled across the sea to return to Blessed Realm, and Arnor began to fade until only the Dunedain were left. Five hundred years ago Sauron returned once more and has waged perpetual war against the few Elves that remain, Dwarves, and Men. The strength of our three races is so far diminished, that we can only repel the attacks of the Enemy. We need your help to destroy the Enemy once and for all."

Robert was shocked, this was a lot to take in, Elves, Dwarves, enemies that could not be slain, a new religion, "Why would he attack us?"

Thorongil simply replied, "His goal is to dominate all life, either you fight him or pay him tribute."

"I will have to consult my advisers about this. For now though, where are your men, and where are you staying?"

Thorongil shrugged, "We were resting in the woods, as we often do in our homelands."

"I will arrange for you to stay in one of our inns."

"That would be much appreciated."

"Come back in tomorrow, and I shall tell you of our decision."

Thorongil bowed, "Thank you," with that he left.

Robert turned to Jon, "I want to help him, if he is telling the truth, then we will need to stop this Sauron before he attacks us."

Jon agreed, "And if he lies and it's a trap of some sort, our army will be at his doorstep."

"Aye, unless if its a plot to rid us of our army."

Ser Barristan, one of the Kingsguard, offered some advice, "Your Grace, let us send a small envoy then, we will be able to see how much men wemust send or see if there's a darker plot behind this."

Robert sighed, "Very well, Jon you propose this plan to the small council, and tell Varys to send his 'little birds' to follow our new guests. I want to learn as much as I can about them."

Jon walked away, and Robert was left with just the company of his Kingsguard, or rather most of them, Jaime Lannister had gone to walk around King's Landing, inspecting the defenses in case of war. So he was left with Ser Barristan the Bold, the Lord Commander Kingsguard, the other five of the Kingsguard.

Robert realized with a jolt how imbalanced his Kingsguard was: Barristan and Jaime were arguably some of the most proficient knights in the realm.

However, Ser Arys Oakheart and Ser Mandon Moore, and the rest were simply skilled knights. Joffery's personal guard, Sandor Clegane, the Hound, was a better fighter than either of them. Sandor's brother, Gregor, known as the Mountain, was eight feet of muscle, and almost without a doubt the strongest man in all of Westeros, although Robert would not want him for a Kingsguard member, the man was vicious and overly violent. Ser Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, was a deadly warrior, and Loras Tyrell, was one of the realm's youngest and most skilled knights.

If a war would come against an enemy that could not be slain, Robert would need the realm's finest men to guard him. He could not get rid of the current Kingsguard members, but he would find a way to get some of these knights to work directly for him. But how to decide who the best knights are...a tourney.


	2. The Lost Dunadan

**AN: Thank you for the review LordofRhovanion, I was actually wondering if anyone would pick up on Thorongil's true identity. **

**I decided to move the story up from one year before Bilbo left the shire to a year before Frodo leaves the Shire. It's a seventeen year difference that would have left Eomer at nine years old at the time of this story, and Saruman would have already been corrupted, but would lack an army**

* * *

Thorongil was playing music in the tavern for the people of King's Landing. It was refreshing, in Middle-Earth, the Rangers were renowned for secretive. Here he could also indulge a bit of his musical side, a side that normally only showed in Imladris, home of the people had been curious as to why he and his had come to Westeros. Thorongil only told them that they had chanced upon this new land, and the people asked of his history. When they did so he began to sing a song of his people's 'legends.'

_"Gil-galad was an Elven-king._

_Of him the harpers sadly sing:_

_The last whose realm was fair and free_

_Between the Mountains and the Sea._

_His sword was long, his lance was keen,_

_His shining helm afar was seen,_

_The countless stars of heaven's field_

_Were mirrored in his silver shield._

_But long ago he rode away,_

_And where he dwelleth none can say;_

_For into darkness fell his star_

_In Mordor where the shadows are..."_

****This was the somber lay, The Fall of Gil-Galad, and told much of the war of the Last Alliance, along with describing Sauron, his forces, and Mordor. Many of the people seemed to believe it to be false, but some knew that not all of it was false, and asked for more description of trolls, orcs, and goblins.

Thorongil answered their questions, although he knew some of them were informants for the Kingdom's spy master. It made no difference what they knew, either they would join the fight against Sauron, or they would remain here and prepare to fight him at a later date. It was easy for one such as him to glance into the minds of lesser men. It was not honourable, but it was necessary when seeing if someone was friend or foe.

Thorongil knew that these men of Westeros would send a party of men with him, to decide what to do later. Once in Middle-Earth, they would be unable to deny that Sauron was indeed evil.

From what he had seen in the fort night that it took him to reach King's Landing from Sunspear, the men of Westeros were constantly bickering with one another. He sighed and stood up, he would travel around the city and observe the way that these people lived.

As he walked around King's Landing, he discovered that the people of Westeros, or at least those of King's Landing, were inclined to give in to base temptations, many visited the...whorehouses. Thorongil even felt dirty thinking the word. Why was it that most men, from simple townsfolk, the gold cloaks that guarded the city, to knights and even the King himself felt that they needed to give into the...wants of the flesh. Was it not simpler to maintain their honor, and keep themselves for their wives?

Thorongil shook his head, this was a different world. Here people had no problems with betraying the trust of others, or with breaking oaths to further their own ends. Thorongil was gifted in that he could discern the intentions of most men. He suspected that various members of the the king's small council did not wish the best for King Robert.

He had not seen the small council all at the same time, but he had seen them. The king's brothers, Stannis and Renly, were both loyal to Robert. Barristan Selmy also seemed to be a loyal follower of Stannis. The Hand, Jon Arryn, seemed to see Robert as his son. From what Thorongil heard, it seemed that Stannis and Arryn ruled the realm, while Robert was inclined to participate in...other...activities.

The other three members, Maester Pycelle, Petyr Baelish, and Varys, were different. It was clear that Pycelle's loyalty lied closer to the queen, Cersei, than to King Robert. Baelish seemed to be loyal, although Thorongil sensed a dangerous ambition within , the spymaster, was another matter. Thorongil was hard pressed to glimpse the eunuch, but he appeared to be loyal, whether to King Robert, or to whoever happened to be the most powerful man of Westeros, he could not say.

From the reputation the spymaster had built of knowing all, Thorongil knew he would have to be more careful in maintaining his true identity a secret. Of course, that should not be too much of a problem, seeing as no one here would recognize the significance of his name. However, caution is always best.

Thorongil continued his walk around the city, musing on how the two cultures would mingle. Middle-Earth seemed to be more conservative with certain...actions, and was much more united behind it's rulers. Outside of that, there would, theoretically, be no problems when the groups of Men met each other. However, if his impression was correct, the maesters of Westeros, or at least the vast majority, believed magic to be evil. This would cause problems when they encountered beings such as Curunir, Mithrandir, Lady Galadriel, Lord Elrond, along with the rest of the Elves.

The people of Westeros also seemed incapable of accepting difference, as shown by the treatment of King Robert's brother-in-law, or good-brother as they were called here, Turin. Thorongil wondered what they would do when they met the pointy-eared Elves, the short and stocky Dwarves or even the little Hobbits? There would have to be some easy to reconcile the two cultures together.

If a war ever did come between Middle-Earth and Westeros, he did not know which of the two would win. Westeros had what seemed to be fickle banner-men, who would switch sides if the other had the upper hand. However, Middle-Earth was smaller. Gondor and Rohan could muster together a force forty-five thousand strong, but the Lannisters alone could field a force of fifty thousand.

Yet numbers were not all that mattered, for Middle-Earth was superior. The Westernesse steel that the Dunedain used was comparable to the Valyrian steel of Westeros. Unlike the men of Westeros, the Dunedain still knew how to forge Westernesse steel, and the Dwarves and Elves had their metal-working secrets. The Dunedain also knew how to forge the steel bows in the fashion of Numenor of old. However, could superior weapons overcome such a terrible numerical advantage?

Enough with this train of thought, it would not come to war between the two lands. Surely they could overcome their differences and fight against Sauron. With this hopeful thought, Thorongil headed to the inn where his men were staying and went to sleep, only pausing to hear word of a tourney that would occur in two weeks time.

* * *

When he woke, Thorongil set out to pay a visit to the king, or, as it was more likely, to Jon Arryn. Thorongil shook his head, of course the king that rebelled to better the realm didn't bother with actually bettering the realm, just with getting rid of a mad king. It was good for the realm that Stannis and Arryn were able to rule the kingdom so effectively and justly.

As he suspected, the men holding court were none other than Jon Arryn and Stannis. While he waited for the lines to dissipate, Thorongil thought of the upcoming tourney and of how it could help him. On one hand, he could observe the tourney with Robert, and hope to make his friendship that way.

On the other, by competing in the tourney, he could measure the strength and skill of these new people, along with testing himself against them. Competing in the tourney might help win him Robert's favor, as Robert seemed to be the kind of man that appreciated strength and skill. While he mused and pondered on this, the lines slowly melted away, until he was called up by Stannis.

The king's brother looked him in the eye, "I know not what you have told my brother, but he seems intent on taking part in your war, although I have counseled him against it. I do not believe in such tales of higher powers, be they your Valar, or our Seven."

Jon shot a disparaging look at his companion, "What he means to say is that we will send an envoy back with you, to treat with the leaders of your kingdoms. From there we will decide what to do. The King also invites you to accompany him on a boar hunt."

"I would be pleased to accompany His Grace on the hunt."

"You better hurry to the stables, he leaves within ten minutes."

Thorongil bowed and hurried to the stables, searching for Roheryn, his horse a gift to him from his love. Thorongil noted that there was a company of nine others to hunt for boar, King Robert, his Kingsguard, and Robert's squire Lancel.

As they were leaving Robert called out to Lancel, "Did you remember to bring the wine?"

Lancel nodded, and Thorongil wondered why someone would want wine on a boar hunt, and why their squire would consent to bring it. He sighed, these were strange Westerosi customs.


	3. The Shipwright

Cirdan looked out to the sea. It had been over two thousand years since ships sailed toward the Grey Havens. Those ships had brought the five Istari: Curunir, Mithrandir, Aiwendil, Alatar, and Palanto. Or as they were known to Men, Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast, and the Blue Wizards. They were Maiar sent by the Valar to help combat the evil that is Sauron. However, they were prohibited from using the full extent of their powers, for the Valar feared to cause another incident, where the Peoples of Middle-Earth began to believe the Valar were not allowing them to do as they wished.  
However, now came more ships, and if his scouts were correct, they came out of the north.

These ships standard bore a red eye, beneath a black crown with two crows. Cirdan mused on what the standard could signify. The standard could be that of an alliance Sauron had made, because the red eye was similar to the Great Eye of Sauron's standard, the crown and crows could be the standard of whoever he had allied himself to. Yet, some intuition told Cirdan that the standard was that of a new group of people, one that no one had met yet. Perhaps it was even a ship that Estel, Elrond's adopted son had hired to bring him back to Middle-Earth.

Even so, it was best to be cautious, Cirdan had a feeling that there was something malicious aboard the ships. The lead ship itself also looked malicious, with a dark red hull and black sails. When Cirdan concentrated on the ship he felt a sense of malice and cunning. He turned to Galdor, his friend and advisor, telling him the men to prepare in case of an attack, but to remain hidden in the buildings.

As Cirdan waited for the lead ship to dock, with his elven eyesight, he noticed something strange about the crew. Most of the passengers seemed to be relaxed, speaking and laughing with one another. But the crew had yet to even open their mouths, and within their eyes he saw a glimpse of terror. He glanced at Galdor, who remained on an upper level of the city, noting his rage. That's when he saw it, as one of the crewmen took a breath, Cirdan noted his tongue had been ripped out.

When the ship had docked, the captain of the ship, a man with an eye-patch over one eye, swaggered out on the streets and led his men out onto the street. Twenty men had clamored out of that boat, and another four were beginning to dock. Cirdan approached, noting that all the men who left the ship were armed. _"Suil, im Cirdan, man na?"_

At the man's look of confusion Cirdan spoke Westron, the common tongue of Man, "Greetings, my name is Cirdan, who are you?"

The man stood straight, "I am Euron Crow's Eye. Longhair, where's the nearest brothel?"

Cirdan gaped, unbelieving of the man's rudeness and disgusting habit, adultery and extra-marital affairs were unthought of. "We have none here."

Euron frowned, "Then I'll have to take your gold."

Cirdan glanced at Galdor, silently telling him to prepare for the worst, "I'm afraid you can't get it."  
"Then you'll end up like my crew, without a tongue."

Cirdan then stood upright, he had been born long before the Sun and Moon were created by the Valar, he had lived before Morgoroth, then known as Melkor, was imprisoned by the Valar for the first time, he had waged war on Morgoroth when he fled to Beleriand. Cirdan had seen Beleriand sink in the War of Wrath, he witnessed the Valar bring forth Numenor, and Iluvatar cast it back down thousands of years later. He was the eldest living elf on the face of the Earth, and he would not be insulted nor threatened by this Euron Crow's Eye. Cirdan looked Euron in the eye, and within his look, he brought forth visions of what he had seen.

Euron paled, then shook his head and drew his sword, preparing to swing it towards Cirdan. In the blink of an eye, Cirdan stepped forward and twisted Euron's wrist causing the sword to fall to the ground. Euron's men seemed undecided, they had seen Cirdan move lightning fast, but it was one hundred against one. Cirdan signaled Galdor, and the Elves of the Grey Havens came out of hiding, bows drawn and aimed at the men.

Cirdan spoke, "As you," indicating the men, "have not drawn your arms upon my city, I will allow you to leave unhindered." He turned to Euron, "You have drawn your weapon against me, and I shall hold you captive for a period of one month, if your men come back for you, I will release you into their care. If not, I shall hold you until they come for you."

Cirdan saw the men slink off towards their ships, he called out, "Crewmen, I know that this monster has torn out your tongues, but I am willing to let you live among us, where you shall be cared for, and be able to live a simple life."

When the crewmen did not come forth, Cirdan spoke up, "Very well, if you change your minds, you can always come back."

After the ships left, Galdor spoke to him, "I know not why you allowed them to leave, given half a chance they would raze our fair city to the ground. But I offer you a congratulations on a victory with no injuries on either side, other than a sore wrist."

"I fear that you are right, these men may yet come back with others. However, I believe that they did not realize that we are elf-kind. At most they perceived that our hair is longer, but the men were too far to see my ears, and Euron was making a show for them, and thus did not notice."

"But surely they know that the Grey Havens are home to Elves."

"These people may be from another yet undiscovered land. I shall send Celebmegil, along with an envoy of twenty others northward to see if they can find this new land."

Galdor nodded and turned to leave, "I shall inform him of his your orders."

Cirdan wondered, could this land be where the lost Dunedain had arrived? It was unlikely, they had set sail from Dol Amroth, in the southern part of Gondor. Their journey would have taken them westward past the peninsula of Andrast, then northward until they arrived here. There had been reports of a storm, but not one so terrible to have knocked the senses out of skilled navigators such as the Dunedain.

Yet, it was a possibility, and so Cirdan concentrating northward, searching for signs of the Dunedain. Cirdan cast his mind forth towards the north, until he settled on a bright light, that could only be Estel. While the young man did not seem particularly troubled, Cirdan sensed at least some discomfort within him. Cirdan was unsure of what to do, Estel may have been sent to new land by the Valar, in which case, it might be best not to interfere. Cirdan decided to consult with a higher power.

As the Shipwright assigned by the Valar, he was the Elf who had lived the most by sea. In his long years of living by the sea, he had come to make the friendship of Ulmo, the Valar associated with sea and ocean. Cirdan set out on a small boat and drifted in the shallow ocean near the shore. He meditated, listening to the sounds of the Elves suffered from a longing for the sea, and that longing grew stronger the closer they were to the open sea. Cirdan had spent over thirty thousand years walking on Middle-Earth, and despite living so close to the sea, he was able to tolerate it, one of the gifts the Valar had given him, to aid him with his task as Shipwright.

As he listened, the sound of waves slowly drifted away, until he heard a voice speak to him, "I have sent Estel northward, but he will come back. Send young Celebmegil to aid him on his journey back, I will ensure that they meet." Cirdan felt assured, he had been right after all. Hopefully Sauron would be defeated soon, and the other Elves would go back to Valinor so that he could at last rest in the light of Aman.


	4. Celebmegil

Celebmegil stood at the prow of his ship. Thanks, to Ulmo, the Lord of Waters, their journey northward was speedy, the journey taking less than a fortnight. The ocean's current took them around a large landmass, until they approached a city. He turned to watch the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, Estel's adoptive brothers, duel each other. Their swords spun quickly, even his elven eyesight had trouble following following the swords. It seemed to be a standstill, both twins unmoving, except for their blades which attempted to strike each other. After a few minutes like this, Elrohir jumped, flipping over his brother, only to find Elladan's sword at his neck. Elladan grinned, "You always were a showoff, not that you have anything to show off."

The twins beckoned to him. "How much longer until we may be reunited with our little brother?"

Celebmegil glanced toward the city, "I cannot tell you that, but I can tell you that we will arrive at the city in a few minutes."

Immediately the twins walked toward to the prow, evidently wanting to find their brother quickly. Celebmegil accompanied them and looked at the dock. A large crowd had gathered, but were held back by armoured guards who wore golden cloaks. Nearest the dock was a small group of people, accompanied by twenty men in the dark green cloaks of the Rangers.

The group alongside the Rangers were guarded by seven men in white armor with matching cloaks. The lead figure was a tall fat man, with a crown on top his head. At his side stood a lady, presumably his wife. Behind them their children, guarded by a man with helmet shaped like a dog's head.

The lead ranger stepped forward and embraced the twins, _"Mae govannen, ucar esta enni an nin eneth. Si im Thorongil._" (Well met, do not call me by my name. Here, I'm Thorongil.)

Estel, no, Thorongil, spoke then in Westron, "My friends, allow me to introduce you to the royalty of Westeros."

After the introductions had ended and the crowd's curiosity with elf-king passed, they made their way to an open area, where grounds were set up with stands. Curious, Celebmegil turned to ask Thorongil about it. The ranger was busy chatting with his brothers. Celebmegil grinned, it was good to see them reunited. While they had believed Estel lost, the twins had fallen into a fell rage, decimating the nearby orc population. Celebmegil decided to let them be. He turned to King Robert and inquired about the preparations.

Robert laughed, "I'm hosting a tourney. We will have a great melee, jousting, and other events."

"Do you think we could join?"

Robert nodded, "I believe we can do a special event, forty of our knights, against both the elves and Dunedain."

"If I may, how is it that your people reacted so calmly to us? A person we believe to be from these lands found our city and was astonished by our differences from men."

Robert grinned, "You have Thorongil to thank for that, he spent the better part of his time telling us of the men and elves of Middle-Earth."

So the Dwarves and Hobbits are still too different from these men for them to know about them.

Robert asked, "Who was this man from our lands you claim to have met."

"He called himself Euron Crow's Eye." Celebmegil studied Robert's face searching for his reaction.

Robert's eyes darkened in anger, his muscles tensed, and he spat, "He is a traitor, both to the crown and to his family. Last I heard, he had been banished from his homeland, the Iron Islands."

"Then you would be pleased to hear that he is now a prisoner in our city."  
"Aye, I am pleased."  
They had approached the stands, and now sat down. Once everyone had assembled themselves, a herald cried out the names of two knights, who proceeded to charge toward each other and knock each other off their horses.  
It became repetitive after awhile, they would charge at each other, a knight would be knocked down and the other would be victorious. Slowly as the number of knights whittled down, the matches became more competitive.

At one end of the field stood a giant man, eight feet tall, the height of Elendil himself. But unlike Elendil this was a brutal man, who had previously skewered a man through the throat when his shield dropped too low. The Dunedain and Elves had expressed their dismay, but Robert assured them that knights were aware of the dangers they faced when entering a tourney. This man was Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain that Rides.

At the opposite end stood Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper. From what Robert had said, and what Celebmegil observed, there was a distinct hatred between the two. When they charged towards each other, the Red Viper shifted slightly, allowing him to pass straight by the Mountain without either being harmed.

This went on for a while, and Ser Gregor began to grow infuriated. Celebmegil listened closely as they passed each other again. The Red Viper was whispering, "You murdered her son, you raped her, you murdered her."

Celebmegil was about to say something to Robert, when the Mountain pulled out his sword, a giant blade that no man should have been able to hold one handed, but he did. The Mountain charged towards the Red Viper, and crowd drew in a breath. It seemed as if the Viper was about to lose his head.

But Celebmegil saw the grin in the Red Viper's face, for the Red Viper wore no heavy armor nor a helmet. The Red Viper charged forward. It was then that Gregor realized his mistake. Even a sword as long as his lacked the range of a lance. Gregor attempted to point his sword forward, to use it as a lance, but then he sailed off his horse, his sudden movement upset his balance, and the Red Viper's lance caught his armor and threw him off his horse.

The Red Viper dismounted and bowed to the crowd, who cheered him. Then another collective gasp went up, Gregor had picked up his sword and was about to slice off Martell's head. The Red Viper ducked, pulled out a dagger and stabbed the Mountain in the stomach.

Gregor laughed, pulling the dagger out of his armor, "Your small dagger only pricked my skin, Viper."

Oberyn Martell grinned and pulled out his spear, and said so that no one else could hear, "Confess and I'll give you a poison that works much faster."

Gregor roared in anger and swung his sword at the Viper. Oberyn stepped away, and crouched down, ready to use his spear. Gregor swung his sword down, only to have it stopped by another, or rather half a sword, for it was broken, and appeared to have been so for many years. He turned to see Thorongil's grey eyes. Thorongil spoke quietly, "Enough, the Viper has proved himself to be your better. Step down and I shall find cure the poison you of the poison he put on his blade."

Despite his fury, Gregor nodded, much the Red Viper's discontent.

Out loud Thorongil spoke, "Ser Gregor has acknowledged Ser Oberyn as the winner, let the jousting continue."

When Thorongil walked back, Celebmegil noticed the Hound and the Viper talking in hushed tones to one another. "Are you certain that the Ranger won't be able to cure your poison?"

"I am sure, thank you for arranging us to fight each other."

Celebmegil turned away, sensing that he would need to deal with their plot later.

At another end of the field, Stannis and Jon Arryn whispered to each other, "Are you certain?"

"Yes, I have seen the boy, along his his half-brother at Storm's End."

"The family trees confirm it, no Baratheon child has ever been golden haired. Not even when the other parent was a Lannister."

"And my direct ancestors, and those of my brother, have not married Lannisters."

"We must confront the king tomorrow, the news will be grievous to him, but he must know that his 'children' are not his own."

They quickly quieted, having noticed Grand Maester Pycelle nearby.

Celebmegil shook his head, he would have to have some long talks tonight, and King's Landings seemed to have more plots than food at a hobbit's party.


	5. Thorongil

**Sorry for the delay in updating, I was volunteering for school stuff, and I'm done on Friday, so then you can expect daily chapters until school starts**

* * *

The idea of extra-marital affairs was unimaginable to the elves, for they had a very low libido compared to Men, and for them it was an act of love, not one of satisfying the needs of the body. As close to elvenkind as Dunedain were, the disdain of extra-marital affairs had also engulfed them. The idea of incest was likewise unimaginable, so the combination of both was an abomination.

However, this was a new land, with a different culture, so they would have to proceed cautiously. It was apparent, from the behavior of Stannis and Jon, that incest was an abomination and affairs were looked down on, and hiding them was a terrible thing. However, it also showed that the evidence was sketchy at best, explaining the caution of Stannis and Jon.

They had decided that it would be best to confer with Stannis and Jon before picking a course of action. However, that would have to wait today's tourney was over, and a round of dueling was left for today. It would be interesting to watch the reactions of the citizens of King's Landing react to the prowess of the Elves and Dunedain who had entered.

King Robert had agreed to enter three of each group. Of the elves, his twins and Celebmegil would participate. Of the Dunedain, Halbarad, Carnuieth, and himself would participate. Elladan would duel Ser Barristan, Elrohir would duel Ser Gregor, Celebmegil would duel the Red Viper, Halbarad would duel Ser Loras Tyrell, Carnuieth would duel the Hound, and Thorongil would duel Ser Jaime Lannister.

The first duel was Elladan against Barristan the Bold. The crowd cheered for the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. When the duel began Barristan began to slowly circle Elladan, who stood still, eyes closed, and his sword at his side. When Barristan was behind Elladan, he spoke, "I will not attack you from behind, while you close your eyes and leave yourself unguarded. You have no armor on, save for leather, and my sword can easily cut through that."

A grin formed on Elladan's face. He turned, opening his eyes, "I only wished to even to even the field, Barristan."

The old knight kept his cool, ignoring the provocation, "If you do not defend yourself, you will be hurt."

Elladan grinned in response, "You will not touch me."

Barristan moved with a speed surprising for a man of his age, quickly slashing at Elladan's head, and finding no resistance, launching into a series of cuts, slashes, and jabs, attempting to score a hit on the elf. But as fast as Barristan was, Elladan was faster, evading, dodging, and slithering away from all the attacks. After a minute of this one-sided exchange, Barristan stepped back, "If I cannot hit you, hit me and see if you can defeat me."

Elladan leaped forward, blindingly fast his his sword. Barristan managed to block most attacks with his shield, and others, but Elladan scored many small cuts along the sides of Barristan's armor. "See Elrohir? I told you he could stop most of my attacks!"

"That is because you are the worse fighter out of the two of us, he would not be able to stop my attacks."

Barristan had ignored the banter, but launched a devastating counterattack when Elladan turned to give his twin a look of indignation. It seemed that despite Elladan's boasts, Ser Barristan could, in fact, strike him down. The combination of the counterattack and his distraction had gotten the better of him, and he was promptly knocked down when Barristan bashed him with his shield. Immediately, Barristan stood over him, sword at Elladan's throat.

After being declared the winner, Barristan helped Elladan stand back up, and murmured quietly, "Thank you for allowing me to win, I know you could have bested me."

Elladan gave a small smile, "To be fair, you really did beat me, although if I had not made a show of bantering with my twin, I would have won."

The two warriors shook hands and walked off the field, leaving room for the next duelers to come in. Thorongil grinned, his brothers were jokers, and enjoyed messing with others, although they were serious when required. It was relaxing to be around them, who he knew so well, instead of being near the people of Westeros, whom he could rarely agree with. If the stories were true, then Jaime Lannister, a member of the Kingsguard, sworn to guard his king with his own life, had killed the king. It was something that shocked Thorongil, to so easily turn back on an oath.

Yet, from what he had heard, the previous king had gone mad, and life was better without him. Perhaps it was a situation like the one Elendil had faced: a king gone mad enough to challenge the gods, and make decisions that would ultimately bring about the downfall of a great country.

Thorongil turned his attention to the current duel, Elrohir against the Mountain. Elrohir was refraining from provoking the Mountain, not wishing to cause another situation like the Red Viper had done. Elrohir danced around the Mountain's blows, striking occasionally at his heavy armor. The armor managed to stop most blows, but the Mountain still felt them. As huge as he was, the blows felt nearly nonexistent to him.

Elrohir then stepped in beneath the Mountains reach. He grabbed at the Mountain's knees and pulled. The Mountain fell down, and had Elrohir's sword at his neck. Elrohir waved at the crowd, but then the Mountain grabbed Elrohir's arm and threw him at the base of the stands. The Mountain stood over him, sword at Elrohir's heart. "No one humiliates me."

Something then caught his eye, it was Ser Oberyn Martell, waving at him. The Mountain roared in anger and swung his sword to decapitate the elf. Elrohir rolled out from under, and said "Fair enough, Ser Gregor, you have bested me."

The Mountain began to swing his sword all over the place, attempting to strike the elf. Yet, Elrohir managed to evade or parry all the blows. Elrohir then side-stepped and struck his opponents temple with the hilt of his sword. The Mountain collapsed, and Elrohir was proclaimed the winner.

When Celebmegil stepped into the ring to fuel, he was grinning. Even among elves, he was one of the quickest with a sword, and to a human, he would be impossible to match in sword fight. Yet it was not a sword fight, since his opponent chose to wield a spear. The Red Viper was slightly worried, having seen the speed of the other two elves, and would have to be careful in this fight.

The fight ended quickly, the Red Viper was using his spear to keep Celebmegil out of sword reach. Celebmegil had dodged around the spear head, grabbed at its haft and pulled it out of the Viper's hands. The Red Viper attempted to bash Celebmegil with his shield, but Celebmegil stepped to the side, and shoved at his back, and Oberyn Martell was sprawled on the floor.

The Viper, unlike Ser Gregor, was willing to concede defeat and proclaim Celebmegil victor. He quickly made way for the next two combatants, the Greatjon and Victarion Greyjoy, to enter the field. When Celebmegil arrived to their place in the stands, Thorongil was approached by Halbarad, "_Thorongil, i ethir na tir. Varys aphad men_." (Thorongil, the spies are watching us. Varys follows us.)

So the spymaster still wanted to discover something about them, it had been a fortnight since they had arrived and his "birds" had begun to follow them. Of course, the Rangers always had someone tailing the spies, and had discovered that Varys had access to secret passages within the castle walls. They hadn't begun to explore, for their own business was out in the open, so none could doubt their intentions.

There was a roar from the crowd and Thorongil turned to look at the fight. The Greatjon held Victarion in a headlock, but Victarion had pushed back and fallen on top of the Greatjon. Their weapons were scattered throughout the field, and neither was surrendering. Robert had mentioned something about the enmity of the two houses, as the Umbers were loyal supporters of House Stark and the Greyjoys had rebelled from kingdom, and killed one of the Umber family members.

The two men were struggling, but eventually the Greatjon's strength won out, and he rolled on top of Victarion, with Victarion's own dagger at the Greyjoy's neck. Once the Greatjon returned to his seat as victor, Thorongil made his way down to the field to fight the Kingslayer. From what he had heard, Ser Jaime was the best knight in all of the Seven Kingdoms and would make the fight interesting.

Jaime's advantages were his armor, shield, training, and youth. Whereas Thorongil was approaching his seven and eightieth year, and fought in leather and mail. However, Thorongil was no mere man, his Numenorean blood made him as youthful as a man of thirty. His experience against Harad, Rhun, Dunlendings, Hillmen, Orcs, Trolls, and Wargs would aid him in this fight against the shining knight of Westeros.


	6. Thorongil II

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or A Song of Ice and Fire.**

**Sorry for the long wait. School started, so updates will be slow, but I've planned out the next couple chapters. Please Review**

* * *

Both men were waiting for the other to make a launched himself forward, his sword slashing left and right. Jaime countered, parrying the attacks, then charging forward, using his shield as a battering evaded the charge and went to slash at Jaime's back, but was stopped but Jaime's grinned, Jaime had learned from watching the others fight.

Thorongil quickly began a series of blows, raining them down upon Jaime. Jaime's sword managed to stop most blows, but some managed to hit him. Thorongil slowed his attack slightly, and Jaime pressed his advantage, beginning his own series of strikes. Thorongil evaded and parried nearly all the blows, except for one that scratched the surface of his leather armor.

He let out a cry of "Elendil!" and began hammering at Jaime's defenses, this time more attacks got through, but merely caused small dents in the armor, as Jaime managed to negate most of the force behind the blows with his sword and shield. Then Thorongil swung his sword just over Jaime's head, Jaime ducked, only to have the hilt of Thorongil's sword crash down upon his helm. Jaime collapsed on the floor, and the crowd went into an uproar.

Many had wanted the Kingslayer to lose, after all he had killed the previous king and betrayed his vows, but to lose to an unarmoured stranger from other lands? Many of the people were on their feet jeering at the Kingslayer for losing to simply dressed stranger, while others cried out witchcraft and sorcery of the other. Most however realized that the stranger was simply more skilled than even Jaime.

The rest of the fights of the fights went by quickly, with only a small amount of extraordinary fighters. One of those extraordinary fighters was Ser Garlan Tyrell, who had managed to best his opponents quickly. Opponents because he dueled two other knights at once. He had disarmed one quickly, and evaded the other knights strike before disarming him also.

As Garlan walked off the field, his brother Ser Loras, walked onto the field to duel Halbarad. It was quickly apparent that Loras was much more skilled when fighting on horseback and in jousting, as he had before, than in common swordplay. After a minute into the duel, Halbarad feinted at Loras's feet at then struck his helm with the flat of his blade, knocking the young knight unconscious.

The final duel of the day would be that of Carnuieth and the stood facing each other, Carnuieth clad in leather like the other two Rangers, and the Hound wore his armor, with a fearsome helm in the shape of growling dog. Carnuieth held two swords, and the Hound held a massive greatsword, nearly as large as that of his brother.

When they dueled, it was quickly apparent that the Hound was a better fighter than his brother, strategically at least. While Gregor would have charged in blindly, Sandor held back, parrying his opponent's blows. Then he charged, swinging his sword the Ranger's torso. Carnuieth twisted away swung both his swords, one at the Hound's head, the other at his leg. The Hound shifted his sword in position to block both blows, and continued into an overhand strike at Carnuieth's shoulder. Carnuieth tried to evade the blow, but it his shoulder at an angle and slid off, tearing off a piece of the leather in the process. Carnuieth attempted to dance around to the Hound's back only to find himself pushed off balance when the Hound spun around and shoved.

The tourney was at an end for the day, and Carnuieth rejoined his friends, "Looks like Elladan and I were the only ones who lost."

Elladan grinned, "But unlike you, I allowed my opponent to win."

Thorongil interrupted the banter, "Alas that I have to introduce a somber conversation, but we do have to decide what course of action to take in regard to all these plots."

They whispered in hushed tones, "We have only been making assumptions and cannot be sure of what is going on," said Halbarad.

Thorongil shook his head, "Nay, I fear that at least the Lannister twin's affair is true. Lords Stannis and Arryn were the ones who spoke of it, and they seem to me to be most honest and good men out of all the ones we have met."

The others nodded their agreement, Thorongil had been gifted with an uncanny ability to judge people, and his will was so powerful, he could often see people's true intentions by simply looking at them, akin to his Numenorean ancestors of old.

As they headed toward a feast that Robert had prepared for the end of the day's tourney, they found Jon Arryn and Stannis. Thorongil spoke, "My lords, I fear that Robert's wife and her twin are having an affair. We," he indicated the rest of his small group, "decided to come to you for advice, for you are said to be a man of justice," he looked at Stannis, "and you a man of reason," looking at Jon.

The two men glanced at each other. Stannis spoke, "We have also feared that same thing many months now, and have finally found the evidence we need to prove it to be true. We are on our way to speak to Robert now."

The group of eight headed towards the King, only to have Jon stop suddenly when he recognized someone sitting at the King's Table. "I am sorry, we must speak to Robert later, my wife, Lysa, has just arrived from the Vale, and will want to speak to me. Robert will be drunk during and after the feast, we will need to speak to him tomorrow, before he sets out for the tourney."

The group agreed and broke up, with the six people from Middle-Earth heading off to rest for the night, for tomorrow they would duel again with the knights of Westeros.

* * *

In the darkness of the far north, in the northern areas of the Land of Always Winter, a pale figure with blue eyes looked into the skies. The time had come, the Great Other was coming. It had been thousands of years since the All-Master was into into the Beyond. His lieutenant, Gilthrang, the Great Other, would come to herald the All-Master's return into the world.

With that the White Walker blew his horn and awakened his brethren. They would advance upon the land of the living to prepare for the return of their master.

* * *

Within the fastness of Barad-Dur, Sauron sat upon his throne. He had heard the calling from his master, who the accursed Valar had cast into the void. His master, Melkor Bauglir, the Elder King, would soon break the Doors of Night and return to the world. Sauron was tasked with preparing Middle-Earth for his arrival, and in doing so, rid the land of Elves, Dwarves, and Men.


	7. Celebmegil II

**Thanks for your review "Guest", you are right in some things, but this chapter will make you revise your theory.**

**Again, I do own A Song of Ice and Fire or The Lord of the Rings (or any other associated things.)**

* * *

It was early in the morning when everyone had gathered. He had come first to Main Hall of the castle, and the twins had come soon afterwards. Thorongil came next, flanked by Carnuieth and Halbarad. Then came the first of the two Westerosi lords, Stannis. They had made small talk for half an hour before a messenger came from the Tower of the Hand. It was Jon Arryn's squire, Hugh, who came to tell them that Jon Arryn was feeling sick and would join them after the day's tourney.

The small group of companions went to visit Jon, for among them, Thorongil was a skilled they arrived at Jon's bedside, they saw that he was laid down in bed, with Grand Maester Pycelle at his side. The Grand Maester told the companions that Lord Arryn was suffering a minor stomach ache, caused by the previous night's feast. Jon had agreed to that statement and wished them luck in the tourney, for he would not be able to go himself. Before leaving, Thorongil prepared a broth to help Lord Arryn be cured of his stomachache.

After they had given Jon their well-wishes, the companions headed off to the tourney field, in order to prepare for the second part of the tourney. The winners from the previous fights would fight each other, along with one of the defeated of the previous day. However, no one knew who these it would be, as his name would be picked out of a hat. Celebmegil grinned, he hoped it would be either the Mountain or Ser Jaime, he could use a good fight, since he would be the one fighting the mystery knight.

The first pair called up to duel were Ser Barristan and Elrohir. Celebmegil shook his head, whoever arranged the tourney did not like Ser Barristan, as they had put him against both the twins.

The fight was over quickly. Despite Barristan's attempts to draw out the fight and wait for an opening to attack, Elrohir leaped towards Ser Barristan, hoping to push him into a corner. Barristan countered by bashing with his shield, which Elrohir spun to dodge and retaliated with two quick blows to Ser Barristan's arm. Although he managed to hold on to the shield, Ser Barristan lowered his guard, only to find the pommel of Elrohir's sword flying to his helmet.

In a surprising display of grace, Barristan managed to turn so that Elrohir's sword just managed to scratch his helmet. Barristan then took the offensive, striking rapidly at Elrohir's swords, until he managed to pin Elrohir's arms between his body and Barristan's shield. As he raised his sword to knock out the Elf, Elrohir grinned and stepped back. A large portion of Barristan's weight was on the shield, and when it's support stepped back, Barristan stumbled forward, and was brought down with a push and a sword at the back of his neck.

Celebmegil shook hands with Elrohir when he returned to the stands, it had been a good fight, and made tougher by the fact that Barristan had learned of the Elves' abilities and sought to find a way to counter it. The next duel involving one of the companions was a duel between Halbarad and Garlan Tyrell. Whoever created the tourney had a thing for making siblings fight the same opponent. That, or chance had simply dictated it that way.

This fight lasted longer, both duelers were skilled swordsmen, although Halbarad was more skilled as tactician than a swordsmen, he had more experience and Numenorean blood running through his veins. The fight began with both opponents circling each other, occasionally striking at the other, only to be parried and then both would return to circling the other. Then suddenly, both men leaped at each other, swords flashing in the sunlight. when they separated, the only evidence of the fight was slightly labored breathing and scratches along the armor of both men.

This went on a couple more times, they would charge each other, strike at each other, and back away, only to circle again. It then became apparent that even though they appeared evenly matched, Garlan was the better swordsman, his breathing wasn't as labored, and his steel armor showed far less scratches than Halbarad's leather armor.

Garlan then took advantage of Halbarad's slowed movements, he began slashing from all directions at Halbarad, aiming only to confuse the Ranger, not hit him. When at last Halbarad became dizzy, Garlan disarmed him held his sword at Halbarad's throat.

When Halbarad came up to the stands, King Robert stood up, obviously drunk, and spoke, "My wife has requested that her brother fight again. My response: which of them fought before, the Imp-" he stopped to let the crowd laugh "- hasn't entered the tourney and Jaime lost so disgracefully, it could hardly be called a fight." He drank from his goblet before saying, "So I will give Jaime a chance to actually fight this time."

Celebmegil was shocked, such a rude speech could only alienate Robert from his subjects, it was no wonder that there were still pockets of Targaryen loyalists in the Seven Kingdoms. Nonetheless, he would still fight Jaime to the best of his ability, although he disagreed with how Robert had summoned Jaime to fight. But it was not his turn to fight yet, before his fight would be Thorongil's fight against the Hound. How quaint, the Eagle of the Stars, Thorongil's literal meaning in Sindarin, against the Hound of the Lannisters.

The two men stood opposite one another, waiting for the other to make a move. Celebmegil could feel the differences between them, Thorongil was the epitome of calm and nobility, the Hound was the embodiment of a quiet rage, and an implacable determination. The Hound struck first, with a massive two-handed blow that would have cleaved a shield in half. Thorongil twisted out of the blow's way and ran his sword against his enemy's, driving the two-handed sword into the ground. The Hound then brought the sword around for another overhand strike, but it was a feint for a deadly uppercut.

Caught off guard, Thorongil jumped back, and was forced to stand against a deadly assault o blows raining in from all directions. The Hound pressed his advantage, slowly maneuvering Thorongil into a corner.

Once cornered, Thorongil stood his ground continually stopping the Hound's heavy blows, with quick parries. Slowly, Thorongil began to attack, at first driving the Hound back slowly, then faster until the Hound became disoriented. Then with three quick blows, Thorongil had disarmed the Hound and knocked him down to the ground.

Celebmegil congratulated Thorongil as he returned and Celebmegil went down to fight Jaime. Celebmegil wasted no time circling, he charged at Jaime, hoping to catch him off balance. Jaime, like Ser Barristan had learned to be wary of the Elves' prowess. Celebmegil noted how instead of evading the blows, Jaime let them hit his armor, using his shield or sword to deflect particularly dangerous blows. This would allow Jaime to conserve his energy, while Celebmegil wasted his.

Celebmegil quickly stepped back to assess his situation. With Jaime's superior armour and new strategy of weathering the blows, Celebmegil would be unable to hurt Jaime. The only way for Celebmegil to win would be for Jaime to attack or be less careful with his defense.

Celebmegil clashed once more with Jaime, this time making sure to slow down his blows as time went on. When his blows began to slow considerably, Jaime sliced at the pommel of Celebmegil's sword, hoping to disarm him. Celebmegil quickly evaded the attack and went to slash where Jaime's sword had been, hoping to get past Jaime's defense. And he did, he got his sword hand behind Jaime's shield, only to have Jaime wrench his body sideways, causing Celebmegil to drop his sword. Celebmegil leaped back, now unarmed, and Jaime tossed Celebmegil's sword outside of the dueling ring.

Celebmegil reassessed the situation, he now realized that Jaime's blow had been a feint, and that Jaime had known that Celebmegil's slowed movements were a ruse. Celebmegil had a newfound sense of respect for the man. He spoke up, "I concede you the victory, you have bested me."

* * *

Cirdan looked towards the sea in anger, a few hours beforehand, a merchant ship had docked. Little had the Elves known that the ship secretly held a pirate crew loyal to Euron Greyjoy, who had set out to free the criminal. It was a pity, in a week's time they would have released the man, but they chose to escape instead. Now the Grey Havens, and all of Ered Luin, were more cautious with unknown ships, as the pirates had sworn to return to conquer and pillage the lands.

Cirdan signalled to his assistant, Galdor, "Send word to Estel, only by his rule will the Dunedain move some of their men from the lands near Angmar to us, we will need him and the Dunedain."

Galdor nodded and got up to go, as he left Cirdan called, "Tell him that Mithrandir has need of him to track down the creature Gollum." After Galdor left, Cirdan sighed, he could see the Shadow growing to the East, and to the far North lay a cold darkness that would smother all, and trap all the Free Peoples between it and the dark fires of Sauron.


	8. Robert

**AN: Sorry for taking so long in getting this chapter up, thank for the review Vince-Sama, it reminded me to keep on writing this story. You'll see the Starks soon. Rember to read and review**

* * *

Robert laughed as he watched the tourney. So many of his so-called knights were incompetent and it was laughingly obvious that many of the newer knights had very little skill. The older knights had gone through his Restoration of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Greyjoy Rebellion. But many had seen little fighting, outside of tourneys. There were only a few decent fighters, compared to the newcomers. Thorongil and his bunch were skilled, aye, skilled enough to defeat some the best knights in all the Seven Kingdoms, while wearing simple leather. While it was disheartening to see his knights so easily beat, Robert held the hope that soon, they would be riding off to war, and Robert would be able to do what he did best: fight.

Robert turned his attention back to the field, watching the knights prepare for a great melee. There were fifty Westerosi knights riding against the Elves and Rangers, who together numbered fifty. While the Elves and Rangers had the upper-hand in close combat, it was unlikely that they would be able to face off against an equal number of mounted knights. Besides, no archery was permitted, which would make dismounting the knights that much harder. The Elves stood in front of the Rangers, and awaited the charge.

A trumpet sounded and the knights began to charge forward. Just before the knights hit the Elves, they leapt up, replacing most of the knights atop their horses. The fallen knights, disoriented, were quickly defeated by the Rangers.

It looked as though the knights would be defeated, but then a small group rallied together, following Ser Jaime and the Tyrell brothers. They had gathered together to fight against the Elves and Rangers. As the band of knights pressed forth it became apparent that they were outnumbered. A band of fifteen knights remained while there were still twenty Elves and ten Rangers from Middle-Earth. The knights however slowly began to cut down the Dunedain, the knights recent battles and war had trained them to fight their enemies as a group, whereas the Elves and the Dunedain were used to ambushing orcs and hunting their enemies from afar with bows.

Soon it came down to just a handful of each side still standing. The Dunedain were battered and weary, the knights were tiring, but had recovered from their surprise at the skill of those from Middle-Earth. The Elves, while they had lessened in number, still did not tire, they fought with the strength of two men, and reacted quicker than any man. But the Elves were also falling, for the Westerosi knights began to work as a team taking four knights to fight each Elf.

Now there stood Jaime Lannister, the Red Viper, the Tyrell and Clegane siblings fighting back to back. Opposing them were Halbarad, Thorongil, Celebmegil, Carnuieth, and the Elven Twins. The same who had fought each other in the first matches. The Mountain and Garlan Tyrell dueled the Elves, the Mountain using brute force, and Garlan used quickblade work to match the Elves, when the Mountain made a misstep, Garlan would quickly jump in to ensure that the Elves wouldn't score a hit on the Mountain. Carnuieth and Halbarad dueled Loras and the Hound. The Knight of Flowers was severely outmatched at this point, and the Hound was easily fending off the two Rangers. Celebmegil and Thorongil fought against Jaime and the Red Viper.

Loras was first to fall, cut down by a blow of Carnuieth's blade. But the Hound struck back and both Carnuieth and Halbarad fell to his blade. The Hound saw his brother expose himself to a hit from one of the Elves, waited for the blow to land then jumped in beside Garlan once his brother had fallen. Celebmegil and Thorongil were being kept from the Red Viper by his spear, and prevented from striking Jaime down by the same manner.

The battles between these four raged, until finally the Elves began to tire. Elrohir was struck down by the Hound, who was in turn struck down Elladan. Elladan and Garlan fought, but Garlan had somehow managed to conserve his energy, and Elladan was tiring. Elladan leaped to strike down the Red Viper, before he in turn was struck down by Garlan Tyrell. Despite being able to outlast Elladan. Garlan tired quicker than Celebmegil, who struck him down. Thorongil, Celebmegil and Jaime were the last three standing. Jaime suddenly drew from the reserves of his energy and in frenzy struck down Celebmegil, only to be stopped by Thorongil. Jaime slashed and hacked at Thorongil only to be stopped each time, until Thorongil whipped his blade around and unarmed the Kingslayer, winning the melee.

As everyone began to head towards the feast, Robert called forth the knights who had lasted the longest. Sers Jaime Lannister, Garlan and Loras Tyrell, Gregor Clegane, Oberyn Martell and Sandor Clegane. "I have come to the realization that my Kingsguard is full of idiots." He looked at Jaime, "Well, except for this fool and Ser Barristan. I need a better group of warriors. I have decided to form a Handsguard, unlike the Kingsguard, you need not give up your titles, lands, or anything else, but you must swear loyalty to the Hand of the King. I want the five of you," he looked at Jaime, "except you, for you already serve me, to serve as the Handsguard, you are the best knights in the realm."

Surprisingly all of them agreed. Robert thought of animosity they had for each other, the Red Viper despised the Mountain as did the Hound. The Martell and Tyrell families hated each other, except for Oberyn and Willas, ironic because Oberyn crippling Willas began the feud. Garlan Tyrell was the most level-headed of the lot, and possibly the most skilled with a sword.

Just as the feast was about to begin, a Ranger burst in through the doors, ran to Thorongil, who promptly stood up. Thorongil turned to Robert, "I am afraid that I must depart at once to return to my homeland. I sense that we may need your kingdom as an ally in the near future. When I can, I shall send word so that we may discuss a treaty to become allies."

The king spoke, "If you must go take Ser Barristan, so that he can represent us in your land."

Thorongil nodded and responded, "Carnuieth and Celebmegil will stay behind, to represent my people while I am gone."

Thorongil left, and soon found Tyrion Lannister. "Thorongil, I wish to go with you to this land of yours, I do so wish to learn more about it." Thorongil agreed, and the Dunedain and Elves left, accompanied by Ser Barristan and Tyrion Lannister.

The feast had just ended when another messenger appeared, this time he went to King Robert. The messenger bowed, "My lord...Jon Arryn has died, he was repeating a phrase over and over before he died, 'the seed is strong.'"

Robert sat in shock, Jon Arryn, his Hand, his father figure...was dead. Thorongil had just left, had the Dunedain done this?

Maester Pycelle, seeing the King's face spoke up, "My lord, the Ranger had helped Jpn, without his medicine, Jon would have died days ago."

What was he going to do? Who would be the next Hand? Not Tywin Lannister, who thought he was the most powerful man in Westeros. It would have to be someone Robert trusted, a friend of old. It seemed hopeless, almost like the winter that was surely coming. Winter is coming, the Stark words. Ned Stark! His childhood friend who was akin to a brother, he would be the next Hand. "Tell the men to prepare the carriages, we ride for Winerfell tomorrow."

* * *

In a desolate land, within an enormous black tower a shriek could be heard. "Shire! Baggins!" Atop the tower, a flaming red eye narrowed, within the tower, atop a throne, a tall figure, covered in dark armor spoke to his nine most trusted followers, "Baggins, Shire, find the Ring and bring it to me."


	9. Ser Barristan

**AN: Here's the next chapter. I've tried to follow your advice vince-sama and include more of the character's thoughts. Remember to review, it always makes author's happy.**

* * *

When they first arrived in Mithlond, the Grey Havens, he had been amazed by the splendour of the city. The Elven seaport was a sight to behold. It had marvelous silver towers and was more beautiful than any of the Westerosi cities. Thorongil spoke to Ser Barristan and Tyrion, "You may know me as Thorongil, but I go by many names, among the Elves I am known as Aragorn, son of Arathorn." He explained to them that he had kept his identity a secret in Westeros because he did not know if he could trust the Westerosi. Barristan nodded, although he was disappointed that he had been lied to.

Tyrion, however, was curious. "If you had to hide your identity that means you must be someone of great importance."

"You see much, Tyrion. I am, as was my father before me, the Chieftain of Dunedain." Tyrion accepted the answer, for the time being.

Barristan whispered to Tyrion, "We know not of these people and their customs, it might be wise to not ask too many questions."

Tyrion rolled his eyes, "But Ser Grandfather," the sarcasm almost visible, "that is what I came to do: learn about them."

Barristan sighed and they stepped off the boat, then they were greeted by an elf, who went by the name of Cirdan. Cirdan was a tall elf, and the first elf Barristan had seen that looked old, ageless, but old, though in his eyes you could still see the brightness of a young spirit. He supposed that was how he must appear to most people. Barristan wondered how old Cirdan must be to appear as an old Elf. Cirdan smiled at the two visitors from Westeros after he had spoken to Thorongil, no Aragorn. "Mae govannen, welcome to Mithlond and to Eriador, as this part of Middle-Earth is called. I sense you two have many questions, allow me to answer one of them, I have lived for nearly twelve and a half millennia." The Elves chuckled at the startled expressions on Tyrion and Barristan's faces. "Come into the main hall, I am sure you must need something to eat and drink, and you must rest."

After they had eaten, Aragorn spoke to Barristan and Tyrion, "I must go on a special errand, I know not how long it will take me. Wait for me in Rivendell, my foster brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, can guide you there."

Their journey to Rivendell had been peaceful for the most part. They rode through Ered Luin, stopping at the Dwarven stronghold of Gondamon. Needless to say, the appearance of race of dwarves to compare to Tyrion's sort of dwarfs was shocking for the Westerosi. The Dwarves were short, but they were stocky and durable, they were arguably some of the hardiest people Ser Barristan had ever seen. Tyrion appeared to be a small Man (with stubby legs) and in no ways a Dwarf when seen next to the there rode through the Shire, stopping at the Green Dragon Inn. The hobbits were amiable people, even if they were shy to be seen near such "adventurous and strange" people. They were peace-loving people who wished nothing more than to feast, blow smoke rings, give and receive gifts. From the Green Dragon they rode to the Inn of the Prancing Pony. There were both Men and Hobbits here. The townsfolk were peaceable, except for one Bill Ferny. It was better than could be said of Westeros, Barristan thought to himself. He had noticed, despite the Elves not saying, that there were Rangers scattered about the Shire and Bree-Land, guarding them from something, though what they guarding these peaceful people from, he could not say. The last building they rested at before reaching Rivendell was the Lonely Inn, a place that was desolate, filled with men who were more apprehensive and hostile.

Then their trek through the Lone-Lands begun. They rode through the desert-like Lone Lands, occasionally sighting wargs, demonic wolf-like beings, in the distance though they were never besought by them. It was not until they had crossed the Last Bridge and entered the Trollshaws that they were first attacked. It had been the second day of their crossing the Trollshaws when orcs had ambushed, or rather attempted to ambush them. The Elves heightened senses gave them a warning, and Ser Barristan, Elladan, and Elrohir were able to fend off the majority of the attackers. Tyrion had grabbed an ax off of a fallen orc and demonstrated that he too could fight. The ten ambushing orcs had been quickly stopped, four by Elrohir, three by Elladan, two by Barristan, and the last one by Tyrion's ax. It was not soon after that when they had encountered a group of three trolls. They hid from the trolls while the Elves explained that trolls, while physically powerful, were less than intelligent and turned to stone when touched by the light of the sun. After that, it had been a comparatively uneventful journey to Imladris, as the Elves called Rivendell.

It was now early April, nearly a month and a half since they had set out from the Grey Havens, and they had been in Rivendell for a week. Rivendell was a safe haven from the troubles of the world. It was a quiet and peaceful place, filled with Elven music and harmony. Tyrion had found himself at home in Elrond's library, which contained thousands, if not tens of thousands, of texts of the history of Arda, which he had discovered referred to the world as a whole, and Ennor was the Sindaran (an Elvish tongue) word for Middle-Earth. Ea was the Elvish term for "the World that Is," which Tyrion supposed had meant the entire universe. Barristan had proclaimed that matters, while important, were more of a scholarly thing than he was accustomed to, Barristan had left the Lannister in the company of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who also loved stories and was fond of writing songs and asking riddles.

Barristan had left them to train with the Elves. Among the Elves, he was welcomed and respected. One day after they had each gone to their own place, Tyrion to the library with Bilbo, and Barristan to the training ground with the Elves, the Elves had told him that they were mildly surprised to see a Man of his age, not descended from Numenor, so fit. He asked them what Numenor was, for he had heard Aragorn speak of it before, describes only its downfall. The Elves looked as if they were recalling the memory of something great that was ruined. He heard a voice speak from behind him. "In the First Age of this world, almost six and a half thousand years ago, the Valar, who you would call 'gods' were told by Earendil, a descendent of both Elves and Men, and a Melian, a Maia, or 'minor god' to help the Elves and Men defeat Morgoth, the Great Enemy, and a Vala himself. The Valar went forth andwaged the War of Wrath against Morgoth, but the battles of that war caused Beleriand, along with a great part of Ennor to sink into the sea. Earendil and his wife, along with their twin sons, were given a choice, to live as Elves or Men. As Elves they would be immune to disease, old age, and unless they were killed by weapons or by sorrow, they would live until the ends of the world. However, Elves who die are doomed to wait in the Halls of Mandos, another Vala, until the end of the world and the birth of the next. As Men, they would be vulnerable to everything you are, though their Elven ancestry would grant them longer lives, foresight, and superiority to other Men. When Men die, we assume that they go straight to the birth of the next although know one but Eru Illuvatar, the creator of all things, truly knows."

Barristan was enthralled by Elrond's story, the Elven lord was telling him of a history that few Men would ever hear. "Which did they choose?" Barristan imagined that he would have picked to remain a Man, living long enough to see friends and all their descendents grow old would be terrible, unless all ones friends were Elves, they might suffer due to the differance in aging.

Elrond gave a small sad smile, "Elwing chose to be an Elf, and Earendil, though his heart was closer to that of Man, made the same choice his wife had. Earendil and Elwing took a Silmaril, a jewel containing the original light of the world, and sail in a flying ship across the skies, visible each night like a star."

"And the twins?"

Elrond looked away, "Elros chose to be a Man, and to those of his descent, along with others of the same House, was gifted the island of Numenor. After that, you know the rest from Aragorn."

Barristan nodded, and then asked one last question, "And the other twin?"

Elrond gave the same saad smile again, "You look upon him right now."

Barristan was shocked. Elrond had been telling him his family history. Elrond's parents were forever seperated from him, flying around the world in their magical ship, Elrond had lived to see his brother die, and his brother's nation become corrupted and ultimately destroyed. From what the twins had told him during their occasional patrol through the Trollshaws, that the reason they hunted orcs so ferverently was the Celebrian, their mother, and Elrond's wife, had been killed during an orc raid. Had anyone told him the story before he had seen the Elves, he would have dismissed the person as crazy, as he had originally, and secretly, imagined Thorongil, or the story as a prank, but after what he had seen seen, coupled with Elrond's sage character, did not allow him to doubt the story.

When Barristan found Tyrion and recounted the story, Tyrion was amazed but discerned another piece of information. The Faithful were the Numenoreans that had remained faithful to the Valar, and they had founded the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor. Gondor remained, although it's line of kings had died out. Arnor had fallen to ruin after its war with Angmar, which was ruled by the Witch-King, Sauron's second-in-command. However, the Dunedain were what remained of the Numenoreans of Arnor along with the descendents of Isildur, Elendil's first-born, younger children. This meant the the leaders of the Dunedain were the rightful heirs to the throne of Gondor and Arnor. Thorongil had revealed that he was Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Chieftain of the Dunedain. Their friend was the heir to a vast portion of Ennor.

Barristan could barely process this information when trumpets sounded, announcing the arrival of Aragorn.


	10. Celebmegil III

**AN: Sorry for taking so long in updating, I'm glad the story is liked.**

* * *

As they rode in Celebmegil attempted to guess who each host was. The man, dark haired and grey-eyed, could only be Lord Eddard Stark, the woman next to him his wife, Catelyn. The teenaged boy at his side would be Robb, his son, presumably named after the king. The young boy next to him would be Bran, and the toddler would be Rickon, the youngest Stark. The older girl next to Catelyn was Sansa, and the younger one, Arya. He noted that each of the children had at a side a young wolf, the symbol of the Stark House. He noticed another wolf, an albino unlike the others behind the Stark family, at his side stood a young man who resembled Lord Stark more than the children Celebmegil had been informed were there. He surmised that the young man, who appeared to be related to Lord Stark, was the man's nephew.

Celebmegil was startled out of his thoughts, Robert leaped off his horse and proceeded to crush Ned in a hug. Celebmegil noted a small hesitation in the Stark before he recognized his friend and liege-lord. If Robert's tales were true, the friends had not seen each other for nearly nine years. Celebmegil heard Robert exclaim that Ned hadn't changed in the past years. Noting Stark's momentary hesitation before he bowed, he guessed that the King had changed.

Celebmegil dismounted while he observed the exchanges between the Starks and the Royal Family. When Robert asked to visit the crypts, Celebmegil noted both gratitude and sadness in Stark's eyes, Celebmegil arrived at the sad conclusion that someone both Robert and Ned once loved lie in the crypts. The queen, however, was annoyed she protested, complaining that they had ridden since dawn and that they should rest before visiting the crypts, after all "the dead can wait." Jaime took her quietly by the arm and the queen quieted.

The feast had begun in the great hall of Winterfell, which was hazy with smoke and permeated by the smell roast meat and baked bread. The hall was draped with Stark, Lannister, and Baratheon banners. Celebmegil noted that the Tully, Catelyn's House, banners were absent. He wondered at this, had Catelyn renounced the Tullys? It didn't seem likely. Could it be that the Lannisters believed themselves to be worthy of being displayed along the royal banners? Or was it, that as part of royal family, the Lannister banners should also be displayed. Celebmegil would make inquiries as to the standards of banners in Westerosi marriages.

There was a singer playing the harp, but something about the man was off. He seemed to only watch the king and the Starks, Eddard and Benjen, the First Ranger of the Night's Watch. He seemed to be wary of catching Benjen's eye, as he turned his head away whenever Benjen looked in his direction.

Celebmegil noted that Jon, Stark's nephew as he believed him to be, sat at a table removed from where the royal, and Stark, families sat. He did not seem too disappointed, and the reason became quickly apparent. The young boy was drinking various shots of alcoholic beverages. Celebmegil shook his head and then noticed the wolf pup beneath the table at Jon's feet. He had heard that the Stark children each had their own direwolf pup, and was now observing as Jon quietly fed his pale, white direwolf half a chicken under the table.

Celebmegil saw Benjen go and speak to Jon. Curious, Celebmegil waited a few moments then followed. He arrived just in time to hear Jon shout "I will never father a bastard. Never!" The table had fallen silent and Jon quickly left, attempting to maintain some form of dignity.

Celebmegil looked at Benjen who shrugged and shook his head, the sign of a long story that lay behind what had happened.

Celebmegil stepped outside to console the young Stark. "Jon."

Jon turned and asked, "Why aren't you at the feast?"

"I needed some fresh air." Celebmegil gestured towards the direwolf, "May I?"

There was a small hesitation before Jon nodded. As Celebmegil approached the white wolf he asked, "What's his name?"

"Ghost."

"Suilad feindraug. Im na mellon." (Greetings white wolf. I am a friend.)

When Ghost allowed Celebmegil to approach him, Jon remarked, "Normally, he wouldn't allow someone that close without my telling him."

Celebmegil grinned, "We Elves are good with animals." He frowned, "Why did you leave the feast? Why did you not sit with your uncles?"

Jon shook his head, "Uncle, Lord Stark is my father."

Celebmegil frowned, "Then why did you not sit at his table?"

"You don't know?" Jon appeared astonished. He continued, "My mother is not Lady Catelyn and she hates me because of it."

Celebmegil sensed Jon's uncomfortableness and returned inside. When he entered, he spoke quietly to Lord Stark, "Jon, your nephew," Ned's eyes looked shocked for a split second, before he regained his composure, "I apologize, your son. Is he Robb's elder?"

Ned shook his head, but Celebmegil had noticed his shock and knew there was more to Jon's than met the eye, or at least the eye of Men. Celebmegil made a mental note to speak to Ned after the feast.

As he returned to his seat, he felt a hand at his shoulder and heard a voice, "I must speak with you outside." Celebmegil nodded, and turned to walk outside. To his surprise, it was the singer who had wished to speak to him.

"Why do wish to speak to me? And why out here?"

"To answer your second question, I must have your word that you will hear me out before you do anything." Celebmegil nodded and the man continued, "I am Mance Rayder, I live north of the Wall. The people of the Night's Watch see me as a traitor for leaving the Night's Watch, even though I myself was born a wilding, they see my leaving to join my own people as being a traitor worthy of beheading. I would have stayed with the Night's Watch, if not for their strict rules, my cloak had been mended by a wilding who had used red cloth, the Night's Watch took that cloak away to give me one of pure black." He sighed, "But I needed to speak to you to tell you that dark things are rising North of the Wall, Others who bring back the dead, we will need your people's assistance before the end, as those of the Seven Kingdoms refuse to believe in the creatures that kill wildings every night."

Celebmegil was shocked, this place had almost even more conspiracies than King's Landing, "I...I will consult Carnuieth, I shall try to help you."

He heard a door open, Lord Stark was walking out, his face set in grim determination. Celebmegil looked at where Mance had stood seconds ago, but there was no one there. The man from Beyond the Wall was skilled, if he could hide from the eyes of Elves. Celebmegil took a deep breath and turned to face Lord Stark.

* * *

In the darkness of Barad-Dur, within the vastness of Mordor, the Dark Lord Sauron smirked when he saw his plans slowly begin to fall into place. Thousands of years ago, after his defeat at the hand of the Last Alliance, Sauron travelled in spirit form to north, he had found a group of people worshipping fire, it had taken a little effort and many years, but he turned those who had once fought darkness to using assassins born of darkness and burning men in sacrifice to R'hllor, as Sauron had taken to call himself there. It had been their burning that allowed Sauron to gather enough strength to reform after the loss of his ring. Even now, his red priests began to infiltrate Westeros, unfortunately, the prophecy of Azor Ahai could not be twisted, although Sauron led the red priests to be misdirected in the search for their savior. Melisandre, the red priestess heading to Dragonstone was lead to believe that Stannis Baratheon, one of the least liked men in Westeros was the precious savior. However, Thoros of Myr was a red priest who would be used to lengthen battles, slowly weakening the Seven Kingdoms to invasion from either Gilthrang's undead soldiers, or Sauron's own forces.

* * *

**Remember to review**


End file.
